Quick Links!

Today's Quick Links come from Mike Reinold, Altered Haemodynamics, and Zac Cupples.

Just recently added to the Manual Therapists Forum is a question from a fellow PT starting a Pain Management program. Not all of his peers are on board. Does anyone have experience with starting a program like this and using modern pain science as a basis?

What do you think of cervical spine risk assessment and cranial nerve testing? Is it a no brainer? Alan Taylor (and most likely Roger Kerry by default) believe so. I fall into this camp as well, doesn't take long and may as well test the right patient for risk. via Altered Haemodynamics

My partner in crime Mike Reinold recently posted a concept that is either foreign to many clinicians. Can Tight Hip Flexors Cause Tight Hamstrings? Not worded that way, but the way I look at it, and present it, is that abnormal tone in the hip flexors can limit a standing toe touch or active straight leg raise. Many times I instruct either working on the ipsilateral side of limitation for the spine, or releasing abnormal tone in the agonist, rather than the antagonist works very well. Think of it as allowing the tissue to fold and contract once tone is normalized.

Do I feature Zac Cupples on Quick Links frequently? Yes... yes I do, and with good reason, the guy is always writing quality reviews of texts you should be reading or courses you should be taking. This time it's a review of Chapter 1 of Leon Chaitow's text, Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders, a text I found very interesting, especially looking at it from a clinician and researcher who was not a physical therapist. Read Zac's great review of Ch 1: The Structure and Function of Breathing... here.

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